The military forges strong bonds among the men and women who serve, but for Marines, that connection is even stronger.

“There’s a bond between Marines that’s different from any other branch of service. We’re like brothers,” he said.

The two men met on their way to Vietnam in 1968. After his service Hollingsworth settled in Georgia, while Cox spent 20 years in the Marine Corps and went on to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross for his service.

They served in VMO-2, a Marine helicopter squadron, where Hollingsworth was a mechanic and a door gunner, and Cox was an ordnance chief and a door gunner.

They flew many combat missions together, and at the end of each mission, they had a saying, which Cox repeated at the close of Hollingsworth’s eulogy: “Hollie, you keep ‘em flying, and I’ll keep ‘em firing.”